The New Year's Blessings
by NCISgirl1527
Summary: Catherine is spending New Year's Eve alone while everyone else is celebrating the coming of the New Year. However a late night makes all the difference in her evening. GRILLOWS!


_**Happy New Years people. I know that this is one is technically late but I ran out of time last night. Either way here is my last holiday fic for 2009 despite the fact that it was published in 2010. Note: The setting is a little weird. It is set in present time but Greg is still a lab tech and Grissom is not married to Sara, because I am a Grillows fan.**_

_**Spoilers: Good-bye and Good Luck, One to Go,  
Disclaimer: To quote Grey-Eyed Girl: If I owned CSI the only thing GSR would stand for is gun shot residue.**_

It was ten o'clock on New Years Eve. That was the night of year where even none party people had parties, and everyone had somewhere to be…everyone except her of course.

Catherine was laying the couch in her living room and she was completely alone in the house. Lindsey was off at one of her friend's house celebrating the coming of the New Year. Catherine did not know for certain but seriously suspected that a certain boy named James was going to be there as well. Lindsey had been going on for weeks about how wonderful James was.

Catherine smiled at that. She remembered the joy of a crush when she was younger and carefree. Thinking about that last thought a little more carefully she snorted. First of all she sounded like one of those women desperately dependent on those self-help books, and second of all there was no such thing as carefree.

She had learned that both in her personal life and in her professional life. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She needed something to distract her from her thoughts. Flipping on the TV she noticed that there were some reruns of CSI New York on that she had missed due to a case a few weeks ago. It was ironic she thought that she worked on cases all day and yet came home and watched people do the same job in a different state.

It was comforting to try and relate people at the lab to people on the show. Greg was like Adam. They were both hyperactive lab tech with great promise. Nick was like Danny. Sweet guys who cared about their team like family. Sara was like Lindsey. Nice people (mostly) who get emotionally involved in cases. Grissom was defiantly like Mac. Both were very calm reserved bosses who cared deeply about their team even if they did not show it. That left her. Catherine liked to think that she was like Stella. Both of them were the second in command and had a very close relationship with their boss…or used to.

Catherine was not exactly sure where she and Grissom stood on the matter of their relationship. Granted if she was still relating her life to CSI New York that fit perfectly because Mac and Stella to had a semi-undefined relationship. Of course they belonged together but then so did she and Grissom.

Catherine froze had she really just admitted to loving Grissom. She had for a long time but she had never actually thought it out loud. It was much easier to deny it…especially now that he was with Sara. Catherine shook her head, and returned her attention to the screen just in time to see Mac save Stella from a bed of knives that had flown out of the ceiling.

Catherine watched the rest of the episode in silence. It was one of the best episodes she had seen in a while, but that might have had something to do with the fact that she kept imagining her and Grissom in place of Mac and Stella. Catherine laughed at herself. She would never admit it to anyone else but she could be a borderline romantic.

The episode ended as the clock chimed eleven. While the credits rolled and a commercial played Catherine went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. She looked at the champagne then pulled out a diet coke. There was no fun in drinking champagne alone and sadly Mac and Stella did not count as drinking company. However Catherine noted walking back into the living room, they were excellent entertainment.

Flopping down on the couch Catherine settled in for another hour of watching people do her job. Somewhere between Mac and Stella carrying a Christmas tree down the street and the pair finding the first victim Catherine fell asleep. She was awoken thirty minutes later as the doorbell rang.

Catherine sat up vaguely wondering who the heck would be her doorbell in the last thirty minutes of the year. She stood up and opened the door a crack. Her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing on the other side. "Gil?" she whispered letting the door fall open so she could see him fully.

Grissom nodded. "Can I come in?" he asked her.

Catherine hesitated. Her heart was saying let him in already, but her head was airing towards caution. She hadn't seen him in almost a year. Why should she let him back into her life? "Yea sure," she agreed, "Do you want something to drink?" She closed the door behind her best friend and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'll take whatever you are drinking," Grissom said pausing to look at the TV while Catherine walked into the kitchen.

"Here you go," she said handing him the Diet Coke.

"Thanks," Grissom said accepting his drink and taking a sip.

Catherine did not pick her drink back up. "Why are you here?" she asked him with her arms crossed across her chest.

Gil looked at her for a minute. "I wanted to catch up," he told her.

"Grissom don't lie to me," Catherine told him, "I have known you for nearly two decades I know when you are lying. You haven't even called since you left a year ago. I doubt that you flew all the way back here just to catch up."

Grissom looked at the floor. Catherine could always read him in a way that no one else ever could. Suddenly something dawned on Catherine. "Gil," Catherine asked him, "Where is Sara?"

"I don't know," Grissom admitted, "it wasn't working for us so we decided to go our separate ways."

"I'm sorry," Catherine said even though she was not very sorry. She wanted what ever made Grissom happy and if that was Sara then Catherine could live with that. However she was not going to lie and say that she was ever deeply fond of them as a couple.

"Don't be," Grissom told her, "It was never going to work out."

"Why is that?" Catherine asked him curiously.

"Because," Grissom took a deep breath, "I wasn't really in love with Sara I was just using her because I was scared of loving someone else. It wasn't fair to anyone involved. Especially the woman I'm in love with.

"Who is she?" Catherine asked him quietly. Half of her was hoping that her and the other half was saying not to get her hopes up. He had known her for twenty years so why hadn't he said it then.

"It's you Cath," he told her quietly.

Catherine sighed inwardly she had known it couldn't be… "Wait," Catherine asked, "What did you just say?"

"I love you, Cath," he repeated, "I have for years."

Looking up at the clock Catherine realized that it was five minutes until midnight. Looking back at Grissom she smiled, "Well this is the time of year for starting over."

"What are you saying?" Grissom asked her slowly.

"I'm saying that I have loved you for years and maybe we should give us a chance," Catherine said.

Grissom face split into a smile. "I think that is a great idea," he agreed.

Tentatively Catherine reached up and kissed him gently on the lips. Grissom returned the kiss and both felt the electricity of it. Everything seemed right for the first time in a long time. When they broke apart Catherine led Grissom towards the kitchen noting with a smile that on the TV Mac and Stella were also laughing in each other's arms.

Once in the kitchen Catherine pulled out the bottle of champagne and two glasses. Pouring some of the drink into each glass she handed one to Grissom. Together they raised their glasses.

"To us," Catherine said.

"Whoever the hell we are," Grissom added.

"To what we're becoming," Catherine threw in.

"And to what we've been," Grissom concluded as the clocked chimed 12. The New Year was upon them.

_**So there you go. The references to CSI NY are because I could. Hypothetical cookies if you know what the episodes Catherine were watching were. Another Hypothetical cookie if you can find the Bones quote. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review. **_


End file.
